Astronauts readying for spacewalk to fix ammonia leak at ISSMay 11, 2013 - 17:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two astronauts will make a hastily-planned spacewalk to try to fix an ammonia leak in the International Space Station's power system, Belfast Telegraph said. Officials emphasised that the six-member crew was not in danger. The leak in a cooling system was discovered on Thursday, May 9 when "snowflakes" of ammonia were seen flying away from the station. Spacewalks are rarely done on such short notice, but the US space agency wanted to check out the leak before all the ammonia escaped. They also want to take advantage of a spacewalking crew member who is about to return home. Officials said the space station had plenty of power, even though the leak forced Nasa to shut off the power channel from one of eight solar panels that supply electricity. The station can operate fine with only seven electrical channels, space station programme manager Michael Suffredini said. Power from the affected panel was rerouted to the other seven systems. Mr Suffredini said the chief suspect for the leak was space junk hitting a cooling tube, but the area had a slow small leak for many years that suddenly accelerated on Thursday. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |